11 best deals of early free agency

11 best deals of early free agency

Free agency has finally started . . . kind of. Signings can’t be made official yet, but the NFL, its teams, and players are announcing deals that have been made in principle. It started off with Case Keenum to the Broncos and then the dominoes fell into place. Let’s rank the best deals in early free agency.

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

2-years $50 million, $27 million guaranteed

We have to put the guaranteed number since NFL contract numbers are never real numbers. Brees’ $50 million deal is probably all real. There’s no reason the Saints won’t bring him back unless Brees catastrophically — and probably literally — falls off a cliff.

This is a great deal for the player and the team. Brees in another uniform would look odd. He is the Saints offense. He also has a team built around him that can make a run for the Super Bowl in the next two years. Brees isn’t taking up too much of the Saints cap space and didn’t force the team to pay him what he could say he deserves — which is the highest paid quarterback in the league.

Brees deal is the best deal of early free agency because it pays him to end his career in a Saints uniform and allows the team to build and keep a Super Bowl contender around him.

Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

3-years, $84 million, $84 million guaranteed

Cousins deal has been reported between $84 million and $86 million depending on reports. The most surprising aspect of this deal is the full guarantee. That will make some other owners pretty angry now that the precedent has been set.

Cousins is an upgrade from the Case Keenum/Sam Bradford/Teddy Bridgewater triumvirate. He is only 29 years old and will hit free agency at 32. That’s not a bad deal.

Cousins goes to a Super Bowl contender. He is playing in a market that may be more appreciative of his play. He has weapons in the backfield with Dalvin Cook, and on the outside with Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. He also has a tight end security blanket with Kyle Rudolph.

Adam Norwell, Jacksonville Jaguars

5-years, $66 million, $30 million guaranteed

This will help Leonard Fournette who will enjoy running into defenders a few yards further down the field. Bortles may even get more time in the pocket, and that will help him slow the game down and focus on his mechanics — hopefully.

Sammy Watkins, Kansas City Chiefs

3-years, $48 million, details not released

Watkins deal hasn’t been fully released, but that’s a pretty hefty number for a receiver who has never performed up to his hype. He ended up third on the depth chart in Los Angeles last year.

Having said that, count me as a believer when it comes to Watkins in Kansas City. Andy Reid will make sure to get the best out of him. Watkins is the perfect foil for Tyreek Hill. Patrick Mahomes will give Watkins chances to go up and get jump balls. This move could turn out to be pretty good — depending on the exact details of the contract.

Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears

3-years, $42 million, details not released

We don’t have the guarantee numbers on this deal either. This is a win for the Bears because their wide receiver corps was well below league average last year.

It’s questionable how it will work out for Robinson. He is leaving Blake Bortles to go to Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky could improve, but Robinson goes from dealing with an inaccurate quarterback to a young quarterback who needs to learn on the job. Of course, Matt Nagy as the new head coach could be a boon for Robinson’s productivity.

Sam Bradford, Arizona Cardinals

2-years, terms not disclosed yet

The Cardinals keep on kicking the can down the road when it comes to their quarterback situation. They need to draft a quarterback in this draft, or find a reliable backup because Bradford isn’t exactly what folks would call durable.

Bradford gets a deal to start at quarterback. He is playing in an extremely tough division. He’s more than serviceable when he plays. He will have some weapons as well. The coaching changes could cause some issues, but Bradford on a short deal works as long as they plan for the future at quarterback.

Paul Richardson, Washington Redskins

5-years, $40 million, $20 million guaranteed

Last year was supposed to be Richardson’s breakout year. He did well enough to land this new deal with the Redskins. Richardson is a big play, fast, athletic wide receiver. The Redskins already have that with Josh Doctson. Washington needs to find some wide receiver that can catch the ball underneath and be a bit more possession focused.

Alex Smith will love his new target, but he also needs a check-down guy. The Redskins haven’t hit pay-dirt in the past with wide receivers in free agency. We’ll see how this goes.

Albert Wilson, Miami Dolphins

3-years, $24 million, details not released

There’s been a lot of offseason hype around Wilson who was just okay in Kansas City. This could be a case of investing in a player at the right time. It could also be that Drew Rosenhaus is very good at his job.

Wilson will take Jarvis Landry’s spot in the Miami Dolphins offense.

Danny Amendola, Miami Dolphins

Terms not disclosed yet

Danny Amendola is staying in the AFC East… expected to sign with Miami Dolphins per source.

Which makes this signing kind of odd for the Dolphins. The Dolphins have two outside wide receivers with Kenny Stills and Davante Parker. They just signed Albert Wilson to be their main slot guy. Amendola is another slot wide receiver.

Amendola is a clutch player who can provide veteran leadership. He always showed up in the playoffs. Maybe he was tired of taking paycuts from the Patriots. Maybe he wanted to move to South Beach. The deal is still a bit of head-scratcher from the Miami point of view since they just invested in Wilson.

Trey Burton, Chicago Bears

4-years, $32 million, details not released

Burton is finally getting his shot, but this is a huge deal for a tight end who was never any more than third on the depth chart in Philadelphia. Rob Gronkowski is getting paid around $9 million per year. Burton’s average annual value is at $8 million.

Case Keenum, Denver Broncos

Terms not disclosed yet

We will have to wait and see what the deal looks like. Keenum could move up this list, but he won’t move up that much. This reeks of a good year followed by a regression to the mean. Remember what happened to the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick after his good year?

Keenum beat every other quarterback to the punch. He signed very quickly. He has to be a bridge-type quarterback. The Broncos have to invest in a younger player in the draft.

Keenum played out his mind last year. He’s going to understand the Broncos concepts since he worked with Gary Kubiak in Houston, and the Broncos love Kubiak’s offense. Kubiak has expanded his role with the Broncos this offseason. This is an okay consolation prize to the Cousins sweepstakes, but Keenum isn’t bringing the Broncos back to glory.

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